We were lucky to catch up with Ruben Ayala recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ruben, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
I nearly lost my business in May of 2020 due to the mandated government shutdowns following the COVID-19 pandemic. During the month of March 2020, I was forced to let go of my entire staff and lost nearly 90% of our revenues within 2 weeks. I had the misfortune of being in the food and service industry and suffered tremendously.
Despite all of the issues I faced personally, the world around me seemed to be facing even greater problems as I sat watching the news. Just weeks before the shutdowns began I watched the lynching of Ahmaud Arbery on TV. Shortly after Ahmaud was brutally murdered I saw on the news that an innocent woman (Breonna Taylor) had been shot in her home following a no knock raid. Then, on May 25, 2020 everything changed – George Floyd was killed on the street by a police officer over a counterfeit $20 bill.
Regardless of how you felt about the situation, we can likely agree that George Floyd’s death was a flashpoint in 2020 that changed the dynamics of how we as a nation felt about race, policing, economics and so much more. Following George Floyd’s murder I witnessed a change within the retail industry’s marketing – specifically within the “veteran-owned” segment.
As a veteran of the U.S. Army I was aware of the various veteran owned brands that made it “big” within the retail market. The largest of these companies operated coffee and clothing companies. Ever since 2018 it seemed that most of these companies became ultra “patriotic” and leaned hard right. However, following the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent fall out from it, many of these companies began to take polarizing positions that could be alienating to minority communities – in my opinion.
After watching all of this unfold for a few months I decided to take a huge gamble. In July of 2020 I decided to start my own clothing company that was the opposite of what I saw in the marketplace. The idea was not to cling on Patriotism as the watchword of our ethos, but Community instead. Instead of choosing a catchy name that would automatically let you know where the company stood in a political spectrum, I chose a name that was derived from history and legacy. I thought that if we maintained our focus on fashion, inspired by Hip-Hop music, we could have a chance to do disrupt that veteran apparel market place.
This was a gigantic risk. My healthy vending company had just taken a huge financial hit and I did not know anything about making clothing. However, I saw an opportunity to make a difference; but more importantly, no other company within the marketplace doing what I wanted to do. The risk was ever present and with that being my first obstacle, I knew I could not do it alone.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Hello, my name is Ruben Ayala, I am the Founder and CEO of Triple Nikel; which is based in San Antonio, Tx. I am a proud native of Puerto Rico and English is my second language. My passions include music (Hip Hop, Reggaeton and Salsa), fitness, reading, fashion and traveling. In my previous life, I spent a career in the U.S. Army as a Special Forces Officer (Green Beret) and saw the world many times over. I decided upon retirement that I would venture into business as a new challenge for myself. While in the Executive MBA Program at the University of Texas in San Antonio, I started a healthy vending company that expanded regionally and became extremely successful.
I leaned into my passion for music and fashion to create a lifestyle concept that would focus on unity and celebrate diversity. Deciding to start a clothing company seemed a feasible idea as it appeared to be a simple way to relay stories and inspiration through good design. The hard part, I’d soon learn, would be what to design and how to make it.
The daunting task of bringing a new apparel brand into the market prompted me to seek partners in this journey. I recruited friends that I served with in the Army that I knew had the right aptitude to bring Triple Nikel to life. The intent of creating change, and making an impact would require a formidable team.
The genesis of Triple Nikel is simple. We are a reaction to what I considered to be a problem within a community to which I am from.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In Feb of 2022 we received an opportunity from Kohl’s to collaborate in their upcoming Veterans showcase throughout 600 stores nationwide. Up to that point we had no plans on retail wholesale expansion and were primarily selling via Direct to Consumer through our E-Commerce site and wholesale to Business to Business customers.
As of Feb 2022, our largest production run was about 2,500 pieces of apparel. Little did we know that we would have to pivot our business model to handle the production bandwidth of 30,000 pieces within less than 3 months!
It took us approximately 5 months to pivot our business model to handle the logistics, internally, of fulfilling large orders for wholesale retail operations. The successful execution of this was due to pure tenacity, grit and teamwork.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
The relationship with my co-founders is fun.
Our COO Rod Graham and I go back nearly 20 years. Rod and I served together in the 7th Special Forces Group. He was my team sergeant on our Operational Detachment Alpha (A-Team). We have deployed together, fought side by side together and traveled the world together. I absolutely trust him with my life.
Our CMO Chris McPhee and I met in 2020. He was also a veteran of the US Army Special Forces and is great friends with many of my friends. We were connected when he moved to Texas and immediately upon being introduced I knew we would become fast friends. It was a no brainer to have him on the team as a founder.
Our B2B Dev Curtez Riggs was introduced to me by Chris McPhee. I met him in 2020 as we were putting together the Triple Nikel project. He is the founder of the Military Influencer Conference and had so many rich connections within the veteran space. it was also a no brainer to bring him into the fold to round out the team.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.triplenikel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/triple_nikel/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TripleNikel
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruben-ayala-9742bb31/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/triple_nikel
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@triple_nikel2212
Image Credits
Christoper McPhee (all photos)